Francesca Maria Vigo - Università di Catania / Consorzio Universitario provincia di Ragusa

1. The EUCEBS project: competences in the construction of a European pathway.Theoretical problems and practical applicationsFirenze 21-22 gennaio 2005 Francesca Maria Vigo - Università di Catania / Consorzio Universitario provincia di Ragusa vigof@unict.it

2. EUCEBS acronym of EUropean CErtificate of Basic Skills The project • started in 2001 • is promoted by The University of Edinburgh • is funded under the Transparency Thematic Action of the Leonardo da Vinci program • is the virtual development of CALABAT

3. THE STRUCTURE coordinating organization: The University of Edinburgh 7 active partners: • Andragoski centre Slovenije, Slovenia • Centre Populaire d’Enseignement, Marseille, France • Consorzio Universitario della Provincia di Ragusa, Italy • CEJAC – Barcelona, Spain • Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Bremen, Germany • Kerry Education Service, Ireland • University of Craiova, Faculty of Economic Science Drobeta Turnu Severin, Romania 2 silent partners • European Trade Union – Bruxelles, Belgium • The UK Basic Skills Agency UK

4. EUCEBS • overall goal • to develop multilingual, competence basedEU • 6-part certificate, that will make visible to • employerswhat those who gain itcan do. • methods • - system of accreditation of prior non-formal • andinformal learning in the area of basic • skills • - e-portfolio and EU standard test for overall • competence in each domain

5. EUCEBS • 6 domains/parts of competences: • communication • numeracy • ICT • learning to learn • interpersonal skills • citizenship

6. EUCEBS • target audience • socially and economically excluded groups of • adults, no formal qualification (early school • leavers, immigrants, ethnic groups, prisoners, etc) • rationale • removing barriers to learning and labour market, • improving learning of risk groups, • improving employability and mobility of population, • strengthening social inclusion, • making learning more visible and attractive.

7. EUCEBS • products and added value • - standards of knowledge and competences • on each of 6 domains structured into elements (each one characterised by a statement and a description of the task) • - performance criteria and range statements • tests for each of 6 domains (CAA) • project website: www.eucebs.orgin seven languages • project specific e-portfolio enabling on-line assessment • Qualified EUCEBS Assessors Award Training Programme

9. Connection to the Internet to show, explain and browse Eucebs’ site

10. Other aims: • To work as a partnership team to develop and make available, for pilot groups of trainees, a European-standard qualification in Basic Skills that can be attained in an on-line learning environment; • To make available, to the trainers who will teach and support these trainees, training in the use of the EUCEBS website. • To contribute to the systematic development that is taking place, under the social partners’, the EC’s and CEDEFOP’s aegis, of the means for and portability of pan-European skills certification

11. The piloting • started in 2002 and went on in 2003. • Each partner had a domain to test • Piloting was not an easy task, neither was it simple to perform. • The first step was to choose the sample and the trainers who had to administer the test

12. my own experience • I did not have direct access to those groups the EUCEBS certification was being developed for. • I contacted the CTP Vann’antò in Ragusa , after the first year of activity I started to work with two well trained and experienced professors of CTP. • The student population they normally work with consists mainly of immigrants, early school leavers and prisoners. • That was our sample

13. LEARING TO LEARN DOMAIN Element A The trainee can describe the characteristics and value of personal informal learning 1. Try to remember a situation in which you learnt something without instruction. For example when you learnt to use an appliance. Give examples 2. Try to describe the learning process which occurred in the situation you thought about, using the following questions as guidelines: a) Did you have instructions or help? b) Were you strongly motivated? c) Did you try until you managed to accomplish your aim? d) During your learning, did you have plans or strategies to follow? 3. Think about what helped you in your task. Choose among the following items. a) motivation b) previous experiences c) time to try d) memory e) concentration f) taking notes g) speaking aloud h) other

14. 5. Reflect on your learning experience. Are you able to highlight weaknesses and strong points? Describe how you would prepare yourself for your next informal learning situation. Divide your future learning process into different parts or levels and label them, using for examples expressions like: - preparation phase - fragmentation of the task - etc. 6. Reflect again on a future informal learning situation. Try to identify and describe your personal hopes and expectations. Do you fee more confident? Do you feel able to plan your next learning? Answer to the following questions: (i) pictures, diagrams, graphs, or maps. (ii) written directions or verbal information. b) When I solve math problems (i) I usually work my way to the solutions one step at a time. (ii) I often just see the solutions but then have to struggle to figure out the steps to get to them. c) In classes I have taken (i) I have usually gotten to know many of the students. (ii) I have rarely gotten to know many of the students …

15. EUCEBSimplementation • within the duration of the project • endorsement of the certificate on national level throughnational • qualification authorities in (some) partnercountries (responsible • Ministries) • partners org. - initial testing centres • future of the project • - national testing centres (in contact with EUROPASS) • EUCEBS Foundation, non profit company • Single Framework on Transparency of Qualifications and • competences including EUROPASS (certificate supplement • or mobility pass)

16. EUCEBS Foundation Headquarters of our non-profit company (location ?) Validation procedures Continuing R&D (new LdV project? New partners?) De Es Fr I Irl Ro Sl UK National Testing Centres (in contact with EUROPASS) (The initial testing centres are the current partner agencies) Learning Centres, SME’s (De) Learning Centres, SME’s (Es) Learning Centres, SME’s (Fr) (Etc) ……………….

17. …… Thank you…